Improve Local Ranking for your Business on Google in 2021

If you want your business to show as a top result on Google searches, you’ll need to devise a digital marketing strategy that emphasizes local ranking.

As users increasingly interact with businesses online by scheduling appointments, ordering products, and posting reviews, it is more important to maintain a strong local ranking. To increase your business’s local ranking and visibility online there are a few simple steps to take, to restrategize your digital marketing plan and capture a wider local audience. This paired with a little savvy about Google’s algorithms will help you grow your reach and build your business.

Local ranking will improve by claiming your Google my Business page,  public profile upkeep, SEO maintenance , and metric measurement.

Claim your Google My Business page:

In order to bring your business to a larger local audience, start by claiming your Google My Business (GMB) page. From here, you edit your business’s public profile, and share information with potential customers. Include business address, contact information and store hours. Be precise and accurate. You should also include photos, videos, links, or miscellaneous information like menus, schedules, or answers to common questions. On your GMB page you can also interact with users. When customers write reviews or leave comments, be sure to respond, and respond politely. Remember this information is visible to the public and highly valued by web users. Not only will potential customers read these reviews, they’ll often base purchase decisions on it! One of Google’s ways of holding businesses accountable. Rest assured though, your local ranking will improve just by racking up reviews and comments, even if they are not all 5 star ratings. Claiming your Google My Business page is a good start in increasing visibility and local ranking.

Public Profile Upkeep

When you’ve got an online presence for your business it is important to keep the information consistent, accurate, and up to date, across all channels. Preform regular upkeep of your public profiles. Web users love consistency and accuracy. If you change your business hours, or phone number, update it on your public profiles. And don’t stop at your GMB page, update your information across channels. Google’s complex algorithms can identify inconsistencies in these pieces of information, and will rank your business lower if it perceives that a user will have a sub-par experience because they can’t easily call you, or find your location etc. Again, Google builds in accountability, and has under-the-radar ways of rewarding those businesses who operate according to its’ best practices, on Google and otherwise. To this effect, run a search. Google your business, see what comes up. Make sure all publicly visible information is accurate, and if it’s not, update it immediately. Remove your business from old listings that display out of date or incorrect information. In essence, public profile upkeep means to keep up with your business’s online reputation, consistency and accuracy are key.

SEO Maintenance:

To improve your local ranking on Google, you better believe SEO is important. SEO encompasses any efforts a business makes to improve Google rankings across the board, not just as a local result. Google takes into consideration the information you share as it pertains to your local business (based on accuracy and consistency) but it is also simultaneously considering how you run your website and web presence on the whole. SEO maintenance means, if you haven’t yet, get yourself a digital marketing strategy (preferably one with emphasis on improved local ranking) and start activating your website and web presence. Google holds businesses accountable for their web presence much in the same way universities now hold students accountable not just for having good grades, but also for being extracurricularly involved. Constantly add new fresh content to your website. Keywords are a major factor in ranking and have an entire spectrum of levels to consider. Google’s algorithms search through metadata and code for aforementioned keywords, combinations of keywords and, no surprise, consistency and accuracy in information. Recency also plays a factor in SEO Google’s review for ranking purposes. For this reason it is important to be active and constantly upload new information, content and interact with users regularly. Have a regularly SEO strategy in place and keep your web content fresh.

Metric Measurement:

The last major consideration in local ranking for your business is metric measurement. GMB as well as a variety of other digital platforms like Mangools, help determine best practices for your business. Unsure if certain keywords are working? Check the metrics. Want to determine if linkbacks are connecting users to your page? Check the metrics? Want to see if customers who click ultimately make purchases? Check the metrics. The metrics are backend data that capture information on how users are interacting with the internet. Metrics like reach, visibility, impressions, and clicks, show how receptive users are to your web content. This is an ever important tool in improving local ranking and can provide tons of insight on how to reach a greater audience. Run and check various metrics about user interaction, apply the data,, and improve your local ranking.

Improve your local ranking on Google:

In order to improve your local ranking on Google, claim and activate your Google My Business page, keep up with your public profiles, run SEO maintenance, and use metrics to improve your efforts. These steps, and some knowledge about Google’s algorithms, will help grow your business’s web presence, and improve local ranking.

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